1324 Confederate Avenue
Former Residence of Isidore Gergel
Throughout its existence Cottontown has featured a diverse cross-section of residents, some of whom have been cultural, business, and spiritual leaders. Isidore Gergel, a Russian immigrant and owner of the Washington Street Theatre, lived in Cottontown from 1928 until 1970. Gergel was hailed as a hero in 1915 for rescuing the House of Peace Synagogue Torah scrolls from fire. Twenty years later, as chairman of the Board of Directors for the synagogue, he oversaw the sale of the congregation’s replacement building on Park Street, which later, as an African-American nightclub, became renown as the birthplace of the Big Apple.
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Former Residence of Isidore Gergel, 2018. Historic Columbia collection
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Past presidents of Beth Shalom in the early 1960s, left to right: M.B. Kahn, Isidore Gergel, Meyer Katz, Irwin Kahn, Leonard Bogen, Jake Freed, and Ben Stern. Image courtesy Beth Shalom Synagogue
